Turning Leftovers into Encores
08/29/2011 at 8:56 am 2 comments
Lately, my husband and I have decided to start calling leftovers “encores.” Leftovers have such a negative connotation, but encores sound so delicious. Overall, it is more about a change of attitude toward the abundance we have been given. We live in a land of great abundance, yet so much of it is wasted, and many times I’ve found myself ungrateful for having to eat yet another serving of the same thing I had yesterday.
Tonight as I made a lentil, cheese, and tomato quiche for dinner, I realized there is so much more to be done with abundance than just grudgingly eat it. For the quiche, I actually took the time to make a homemade pie crust. Because I am unable to roll a pie crust out to a perfect circle, I had to trim the edge of the crust once it was in the pan. Well, I ended up with a small fistful of leftover dough. In general, I thought, there are three things one could do with an abundance:
- Throw it away
- Give it away
- Use it/Re-purpose it
I almost threw the fistful of dough away, but then I realized it took way too much effort to make it, so I decided on using it to make two small, individual serving size pear pies. The pears came from my mother who gave out of the bountiful crop she had off her trees this year. The pies turned out to be the perfect complement to the meal. What a delicious lesson to remind me to take a second look before I simply throw out the abundance I’ve been given!
Entry filed under: Food. Tags: Leftovers, Pear, Pie, Quiche.
1.
Lorraine | 09/06/2011 at 4:15 pm
What about posting the recipe for that lentil quiche you mention here? Sounds like it would be great!
2.
themoptimist | 09/07/2011 at 2:18 pm
It sure was a tasty quiche. My recipe was adapted from a Lentil Quiche recipe in The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett.
Lentil, Cheese, and Tomato Quiche
-Unsalted butter for frying
-1 garlic clove, pressed
-1 leek, finely chopped
-3/4 c. red lentils, rinsed in cold water and drained
-2 c. milk
-Pinch dried thyme
-1 pie crust (I made my own and blind-baked it)
-2 eggs
-3/4 c. grated Cheddar cheese
-3 medium tomatoes, sliced
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Fry the garlic and leek in a pan with the butter until soft.
2. Add the lentils then add the milk and thyme. Bring to a boil.
3. Simmer (covered) for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
4. In a bowl beat the eggs and stir in half the cheese. Then add this mixture to the lentil mixture and stir and pour into the pie crust.
5. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and place the tomato slices on top.
6. Bake for 45 minutes (be sure to cook the egg all the way).
I served it with roasted asparagus, and it was delicious; it looked nice also (too bad I did not take a picture of it). Enjoy!